Strawberry Spinach Grown in Your Organic Garden
by John Yazo
Strawberry spinach, a crop that can be grown in your organic gardens or as a part of your edible landscape. It has a unique characteristics that also makes it an ideal plant to grow in containers or as a border plant.
This unique edible, annual plant is know under a variety of different names other that Strawberry Spinach, it is also known as Beetberry, Blite Goosefoot, Strawberry Blite, Strawberry Goosefoot,Indian Ink and Indian Paint.
A leafy green plant that grows between one and three feet tall at maturity. It is best to harvest the plants young leaves when the plant is about ten to twelve inches tall and eaten raw in salads or cooked the same way you would any other spinach. The leaves have a walnut taste that can add a special flavor to a salad. Beside there edible leaf, this plant bears a sweet, red berry at the plants leaf axil. These berries are also edible and can be eaten raw or cooked, even used as a natural red dye for food coloring. The combination of this plants green leaves and it's red berries, makes it a unique plant that can add interest to your container gardens or as a companion plant.
This is not a new species of plant, it is known to be under cultivation for over 400 years, along with being a native to most parts of North America, throughout the United States and Canada, also including northern areas.
Strawberry spinach can be started from seed indoors a couple weeks before the last expected frost date in your area, and then transplanted outdoors in your garden when all danger of frost has passed. It can also be sown directly in the garden in late spring. if you choose to grow this plant in containers, it is best to choose a container or pot with a minimum of ten inches of depth. It can add an interesting look when planted in a decorative pot in your patio garden for everyone to admire, and comment on.
A good healthy organic soil structure is key to growing a healthy and thriving crop of spinach, just as with any other crop in your organic garden, soil does more than just grow plants, it aids in the prevention of disease and pest problems in the garden. An organic soil management plan is very important when organic gardening. Feeding the soil will allow the natural life that exists to work hard for you to improve the soils structure and provide the nutrients and the support that plant life needs to thrive.
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